1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a switching and/or signalling apparatus formed of a case having a base and a lid in which at least one switching unit is housed, actuated manually or by remote control, in particular a connector with an associated electro-thermal relay and control members provided on the lid for actuating the switching unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In such switching and/or signalling apparatus, the base receives for example a contractor and an electro-thermal relay. There may also exist several of these switching units. On the lid control members are generally disposed which are accessible from the outside making it possible, for example through interposed control elements such as switches etc, to actuate manually the switching unit housed in the case. Furthermore, the lid of such an apparatus often has observation windows or similar devices for observing display elements signalling for example certain operating conditions.
In the sealed switching installation described in DE-OS No. 25 46 176, the base has a cross piece placed above the upper opening which supports the additional signalling and control elements required. These additional elements are each disposed between the control member which is associated therewith, fixed to the lid, and the switching unit housed in the base.
The drawback of this approach resides in the fact that the space generally available in the case is badly used, and the arrangement of the control members on the lid, particularly for control elements placed close together and for the members to be actuated, is problematic.
The invention provides a switching and/or signalling apparatus of the above mentioned type which is simple in design and which makes possible a clear and functional distribution of the control members to be provided on the lid, to be actuated manually, as well as optimum use of the space normally available in the case, while providing reliable operation.